45 Day Healthy Meal Plan

45 Day Healthy Meal Plan

Sometimes, even the best-laid plans for eating clean can go to waste. That’s why we’ve put together these 45 awesome healthy meals for you to follow. All of these recipes are tried and true favorites, many of which were developed right here in our FitnessHQ test kitchen.

Give it a try and let us know your results! Post comments and photos below and don’t forget to use the hashtag #BeABetterYouWithFitnessHQ

Day 1: Beets and Sweet Potato Hash

Heat up the coconut oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the beet, the sweet potato and onion. Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve. Yum! Easy and SO good!

Warning: Purple beets have a lot of pigment and will turn everything you cook pink, but it will all still taste bomb. Tell Dr. Dre to move over — there’s a new beet master in town!

Day 2: Chicken Nuggets

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1 cup of coconut flour (or almond flour)

2 tablespoons of butter/ghee

2 chicken breast

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

1. Cut your chicken breast into small pieces.
2. Place your coconut flour or other flour substitute in a container along with salt and pepper. Crack your egg in a separate container.
3. Dredge the chicken first through the egg and then through the flour.
4. In a skillet, warm up two tablespoons of ghee. Once the ghee has melted, place the coated chicken pieces in it, flipped with tongs every two minutes until they’re cooked all the way through.

Heat your ghee in a skillet before adding ground pork. Cook the pork for five to ten minutes or until it’s browned before pulling it off the heat and draining the fat.

Clean the gills out of the bottom of your mushrooms. You can find a helpful video on how to do that here. It’s okay if yours don’t look as pretty as hers do — ours didn’t either!

Add the spices and salt and pepper to taste to your meat mixture and stir it in so that the meat is thoroughly coated.

Take your frozen box of spinach and divide it in half. Store the half you don’t use. Take the half you do use and use a paper towel or dish towel to squeeze as much of the excess moisture out as possible. No one wants soggy mushrooms!

Using a spoon, fill each mushroom with the mixture. If you have some left over, throw it in the fridge and use it later in the week for a yummy egg scramble or breakfast omelet.

Once each mushroom is filled to capacity — you can really stuff those suckers as full as you’d like! — stick them in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft.

After you pull the mushrooms out of the oven, let them cool before topping them with a big dollop of your favorite salsa. Yum!

Brown your ground beef in a skillet. Feel free to substitute ground chicken or ground turkey if you prefer!

Once your beef is cooked, drain it and return it to the skillet with your chopped onion and garlic on medium heat. Saute until the onions are translucent.

Add in your cleaned and sliced mushrooms and spinach, cooking until the spinach wilts. You can also add in more vegetables if you’d like. Zucchini, black or green olives or artichoke hearts would also be delicious additions to this recipe.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. When you pull it out, top lightly with parmesan cheese if your diet allows for it. This recipe serves 4 people but can easily be doubled or even tripled — yeah, it’s that good!

Day 7: Lime Chicken and Broccoli

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1 pound of chicken breast

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of butter/ghee

1 teaspoon of Old Bay Poultry and Seafood Seasoning

2 limes

Directions

Cook 1 pound of chicken breast in a skillet over medium heat with one tablespoon of ghee.

Add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.

When done, remove from heat and squeeze the juice from two limes over the chicken

Day 8: Simple Beef Skillet

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef

1 yellow onion

2 tomatoes

1 bag of spinach

1 tablespoon of butter/ghee

Directions

Pre-prep
– Finely chop the onion
– Rough chop the two tomatoes into larger pieces and salt them

Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat and add the 1 tablespoon of ghee

Add the onion and sauté for about 3 or 4 minutes

Push onion to the outer edge of the pan, and push ground beef down in the center

After about five minutes flip or stir the beef to cook through.

After beef is browned, stir and throughly mix with onion.

Add the complete bag of spinach. It will pile up a good bit, but will wilt quickly

Stir in spinach a few times to wilt it all into the mix

Reduce heat and add the tomatoes, cook for another minute or two, just enough to warm up the tomatoes.

Combine all ingredients besides zucchini in a slow cooker on low heat.

Using a spiralizer, create “noodles” out of your zucchini. You can add those directly to the pot or steam them and serve them separately if you prefer.

Cook on low for four to six hours and serve. Yum!

Tip: Double this recipe and freeze half of it for a quick and portable freezer meal! Also, spaghetti squash also makes an awesome noodle substitute, especially if you prefer your noodles a little more al dente. You can clean out the squash and add the noodles directly to the CrockPot or roast the squash in the oven and serve the noodles separately.

Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the butter over medium-high heat, and add the radishes. Cook until deeply golden brown and nearly charred on all sides. Season with a touch of fleur de sel, and set aside.

Thinly slice the spring garlic. Slice the radishes into rounds, and chop the radish tops and the baby spinach.

When the quinoa is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with the carrots.

Add the greens, and fold them into the warm quinoa.

Add the lemon juice, olive or coconut oil, radishes, and garlic, and toss to combine. Season with fleur de sel and pepper, and serve immediately

Day 17: Purple People Eater Cabbage Soup

1 smoked sausage — I prefer to use a nitrate-free turkey sausage, but knock yourself out with whatever type you prefer

1/2 tablespoon of cumin

1/2 tablespoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of pepper

1/2 tablespoon of celery salt

1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder

Directions

Finely shred your purple cabbage.

Chop up half of a white onion.

Add your cabbage and onion to your slow cooker along with all of your other ingredients. If there isn’t enough liquid in the pot to cover the mixture, add a cup of water at a time until the food is fully submerged. Feel free to use more broth instead of water for a stronger flavor.

Cook the soup on low heat for four to six hours or on high heat for two to four hours before serving.

Day 18: Sweet Potato and Pepper Bake

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

2 tablespoons of butter/ghee

3 sweet potatoes

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and cube your sweet potatoes.

Lay the sweet potatoes across a greased baking sheet and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, cut the heads off your sweet peppers and clean out the seeds.

Slice the peppers into small pieces.

Melt your ghee in a small, microwave-safe container.

After the 30 minutes are up, pull the potatoes out and add the peppers to the baking sheet. Coat with ghee and put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Heat up 1 cup of water on the stove. When it reaches the boiling point, add the green beans and let them boil for five to eight minutes or until they’re soft.

Drain your green beans and run cold water on them.

In a large bowl, mix your salad, your roasted beets (see above recipe on instructions for how to make them) and walnuts.

Once your green beans are cool, add them and toss your salad. Add feta cheese if your diet permits. Top with olive oil and viola, you’ve got a yummy breakfast or lunchtime salad. Think the ingredient combination sounds a little strange? Try it for yourself and thank us later!

Take a large cod filet and rinse it thoroughly. Pat it dry and set it inside the casserole dish.

Chop up one large onion into large chunks and place them in the casserole dish.

Peel and chop three carrots and place them in the casserole dish.

Squeeze two limes over the mixture. Then, spread two tablespoons of ghee over the mixture. Sprinkle the paprika over the top before placing in the oven.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the fish is cooked all the way through.

Day 22: Green Chicken

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

3 jalapeños (optional)

4 skin-on chicken thighs

10 tomatillos

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tablespoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

Pre-prep
– Slice jalapeños length-wise down the middle, and remove seeds
– Finely dice jalapenos using a chopper or a knife
– Peal and wash the tomatillos and slice them in halves or quarters
– Sprinkle salt on each side of the chicken

Heat up a sturdy pot over medium high heat

Brown the chicken thighs, skin side down first, on each side for about 4 minutes each.

Remove the chicken from the pot, and leaving the rendered fat in the pot

Sauté the jalapeños in the same pot for about 3 minutes

Add chicken broth and the tomatillos into the pot and let simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on the pot

Using a masher or a submersible blender, break down the tomatillos into more of a sauce (Note: if using a submersible blender, tilt the pot to ensure you don’t splatter hot sauce on yourself, OUCH!)

Put the chicken back into the pot, put on lid, and simmer on medium/low heat for 30 minutes. The mixture should be at a slow boil

When serving, finely chop a healthy handful of cilantro and sprinkle over the chicken and sauce

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the chopped onions for three to four minutes

Add the minced garlic in with the onions, and sauté together one more minute

Add the sliced mushrooms to the sautéed onions and garlic and cook five to seven minutes until the mushrooms are golden. Add salt and pepper to taste while cooking

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the pan then toss in the Roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and olives. Sprinkle in the parsley, oregano, and stir a few minutes

Next add the chopped chicken and spinach to the pan – stir and cook one to two minutes, or until chicken is heated through. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve hot garnished with the fresh basil

Day 24: Pot Roast with Spaghetti Squash

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

3 pounds of pot roast

2 cups of beef broth

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions

Season the pot roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. (I don’t measure this… simply get good coverage of the meat).

Place roast into a crock pot and add two cups of beef broth.

Cook for 10 hours. (Ideal for starting the morning so it will be ready at dinner time).

After 10 hours, the meat should shred easily and provide meat for dinner recipes or grab ‘n go lunches.

First, make your spice mixes. Combine the blackened cod spices in a wide dish or plate, to make it easier to coat the fish later. Combine the kale spices, and set them aside.

Thinly slice the green onion, reserving the green tops separately.

Sauté the white and pale green portions in the bacon fat — or simply in a bit of juice from the canned tomatoes if you don’t want to add any extra fat to the dish.

When they are nice and soft and a bit caramelized, add the tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the liquid has nearly all reduced.

Meanwhile, remove all of the large ribs from the kale, and slice it rather finely into a chiffonade.

Add the kale spice mix to the tomatoes, and cook together for 30 seconds, until it becomes fragrant.

Add the kale chiffonade to the pan of tomatoes, and add just enough water to keep the kale and tomatoes from burning. Set over a low heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is cooked through but still bright green.

Next, prepare the cod. Coat it on both sides with the spice mixture, and heat the bacon grease in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the cod and cook for about two to three minutes on each side, until browned and cooked through.

Serve the cod on top of the kale and tomato mixture, and sprinkle with green onion tops.

Day 33: Kale and Quinoa Superfood Soup

Place the quinoa in a sauce pot and rinse thoroughly to remove all of the saponins, which can leave a bitter, soapy taste. Next, cover the quinoa with water.

Season the quinoa with about a teaspoon of salt

Cook the quinoa over medium heat while you prepare the kale. Depending on the variety of quinoa you’ve purchased, it will take between 20 and 30 minutes to cook. Check the package for a more exact cooking time.

The next step is going to be to de-stem the kale. You don’t need to remove all the stems – just the big, central ones that run through each leaf. The easiest way to do this is to pull the kale leaf off the stem into bite-sized pieces.

Wash your kale thoroughly. No need to spin the kale dry for this recipe! Just set it aside in the sink while you prepare the aromatics.

Start by slicing the shallot. Slice it in half lengthwise through the root and tip. Then peel it and thinly slice each half into half-moon slices.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the shallot. Season with a bit of salt, and let it sauté while you mince the garlic.

Peel the garlic by smashing each of the cloves with the side of your knife and removing the papery skin. Mince the garlic very finely. By this point, the shallot should be nicely sautéed and a bit brown. Add the garlic to the pan and stir. Cook only until the garlic becomes fragrant, about a minute or two.

Add the kale in handfuls, allowing any water still clinging to the leaves to come into the pan as well. This will help keep the garlic from burning while the kale steams. You’ll end up with a big pile of kale in your pan, but don’t worry – it’ll cook down! Cover the pan with a lid. Let it steam over medium or medium-low heat.

After just 5-10 minutes of steaming, the kale will have reduced quite a bit in volume.At this point, you can remove the cover and stir the kale a bit to make sure that it’s all wilted evenly.

Your kale may have rendered some liquid. Continue cooking it, uncovered, until this liquid has evaporated. Then turn off the heat and set the kale aside to cool a bit. Allow the kale to cool enough that you can handle it without burning yourself. Then mound the kale on your cutting board and finely slice it.

At this point, your quinoa will have finished cooking. Add handfuls of chopped kale to the quinoa until you have about equal parts kale and quinoa. Stir everything together. Add a touch more water as needed to get a bit more broth, but this soup is really intended to be more chunky than brothy. You can taste the base at this point and season with salt as needed.

Keep the soup over low heat while you poach the egg for the top, just to heat the kale through. When the egg is cooked, carefully remove it with a spoon or slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel or dishtowel to dry it slightly before setting it on top of the soup.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then start by preparing the dishes for the potatoes. I used small, individual baking dishes with lids, but you can make the gratin in a larger 8-inch square baking dish. Trace the outline of whatever dish you are doing on a sheet of parchment paper, and cut out a piece that will fit in the bottom.

Wet your fingers with a dab of water so that the paper sticks to the bottom of the dish. Set aside.

Prepare the potatoes. Slice them thinly (you can peel them or not — up to you. I don’t because it makes my life easier.) Work quickly, so that the potatoes do not oxidize. If you’re not too confident in your knife skills, set the potato slices in a bowl of water as you prepare them to keep them from turning brown.

When all of the potatoes are sliced, layer them in the dishes, interspersing the layers with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic to taste. Be sure to fill the dishes overfull — the potatoes will shrink as they cook.

Melt the schmaltz in the microwave until just barely liquid, and pour it over the potatoes, dividing it amongst the dishes equally if you are using more than one. Cover the dishes with either their individual lids or aluminum foil, and bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in an 8×8 Pyrex, combine the mustard and the vinegar.

Add the turkey and cover with the marinade. Allow to marinade for 40 minutes, while the potatoes cook.

After 40 minutes of baking, remove the lids or the foil from the potatoes, and add the turkey. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the turkey is cooked through and the potatoes are crisp on top.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Keep the turkey warm and allow the juices to settle and redistribute.

You can serve the potatoes straight out of the dishes (if this is your plan, you don’t necessarily need to use the parchment paper at the bottom). However, I prefer to turn them out, as this way, the juices can mix with the turkey. To do this, loosen the edges of the gratin with a knife, place a plate over the gratin, and flip it over quickly but carefully. Leave the dish for about 30 seconds, then gently lift it straight up.

You can serve the turkey whole, but the vision of juicy, sliced turkey is enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

Heat a nonstick pan over high heat. Peel and finely dice the sweet potato, and add it to the dry pan in an even layer. Allow to begin to roast while you prepare the broccoli.

Finely dice the broccoli. Stir the sweet potato, and test a piece to ensure that it is al dente and nearly completely cooked. This should only take about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli to the pan, and stir to combine.

Mince the jalapeño. When the broccoli is bright green, add the jalapeño, turmeric, and coconut oil to the pan, and mix to combine. Cook for only 30 seconds, until the jalapeño is fragrant.

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the eggs to the pan. Stir constantly with a wooden spatula until the eggs are just set.

Remove from the heat and serve on a plate, topped with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

And serve!

Day 38: Fig Chicken

Source: FitnessHQ Test Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 cup of parsley

1 butternut squash

1 lemon

2 tomatoes

1 container of chicken broth

1 teaspoon of saffron threads

2 sticks of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of cumin

3 cloves of garlic

1 white onion

1/2 cup of figs

4 tablespoons of butter/ghee

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1 whole chicken

Directions

Cut your chicken into seven to eight pieces, throwing out the parts you don’t need or saving them for another recipe.

Season your chicken with salt and pepper and set to the side.

In a small container, soak your figs in hot water.

Heat up butter in a large stock pot over medium heat and begin browning the chicken.

Remove the chicken from the stock pot and add in onions, garlic, saffron, cinnamon and cumin. Sautee until the onions are translucent and then add chicken broth and tomatoes.

Add cilantro, lemon juice, parsley and the browned chicken to the pot. Increase heat and bring the mixture to a boil.

While the chicken is cooking, peel and slice your butternut squash and then add it to the pot.

Let the mixture cook for another 20-30 minutes before removing from heat and serving. Garnish with the figs and parsley.

If you have a food processor, this next step will be as simple as putting the zucchini into the processor and pulsing it a few times until it is a rice-like consistency. If you’re like me and don’t have a food processor, you’ll have to grate the zucchini…still like a peasant.

Once you’ve completed the grating process, lay out a dish towel. Place the zucchini on top of it. Use another dish towel to press ALL the moisture out of the mixture. Expert tip: There will be a LOT — it may take two dish rags, but this is an important step that will keep your crust from being soggy.

Combine your pressed zucchini shreds in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Grease a baking sheet and spread your zucchini crust out. Bake for 35 minutes or until the edges are brown. Carefully remove the zucchini crust from the baking sheet before topping with your favorite pizza toppings.

Whisk egg, arrowroot, tamari and sherry in a medium bowl. Add chicken and stir until the chicken is coated in the marinade. Set the mixture aside for 30 minutes at room temperature to marinate.

Whisk together all sauce ingredients in a measuring cup. Set aside.

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Melt 2 tablespoons oil or tallow in the hot skillet and swirl the pan to coat. Add half of the chicken and fry, without stirring until bottom of chicken turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, turn chicken and fry until second side is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil or tallow to pan and swirl to coat. Place the broccoli in the pan and cook, stirring frequently until hot, about 1 minute. Add 2 tablespoons water to the pan and quickly cover the pan with a lid. Let the broccoli simmer in the water for 2 minutes, then remove the lid and let the remaining water evaporate, about 1 minute. Make a well in the center of the pan and add the garlic and ginger. Let the mixture cook in the center of the pan until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and sauce to the pan and stir frequently, making sure all of the chicken and broccoli is coated with the sauce. As the sauce heats it will thicken, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Serve immediately.